It doesn't take long until we get to Hex Tech, only 20 minutes, and it would be faster if we were driving. I see Douxie, Archie, and Nari waiting at the door, waving at us. Jim, Toby, and I lock up our bikes and walk to them.
"Hey!" Nari cheers with a smile in her human disguise (what she looked like in New York City).
Me, Jim, and Toby chuckle at her innocence. "Hi, guys!" I reply as we walk to her, the cat, and the wizard. "Dose Zoey know we're here?" I ask, turning to Douxie.
"Yes, and she's expecting us. You ready, C-bomb?" Douxie replies, looking at me with concern.
I raise my eyebrow and smirk at my teacher. "Of course, Douxie. How bad will this be?" I chuckle, making him and Archie glance at each other with concern. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! It's nothing, Claire. Come on, guys." Douxie replies hesitantly, giving me an awkward smile. He opens the door and allows me in first. Jim and Toby trail not far behind me.
"Thank you, guys, for coming with her." I hear Douxie say with gratitude.
"It's the least we can do to help her." I hear Toby's reply.
Hex Tech on the inside still looks cool. White lights, a blue screen, and a nice waiting room. Instead of showing up here in strange attire and two trolls, we look normal in the crowd. I see Douxie walk up to the receptionist.
"How may I help you today, Sir?" The receptionist asks in a joyful tone, but she looks bored.
"Hi, I'm Hisirdoux Casperan! I'm looking for Zoe." Douxie answers calmly but with a twitch of excitement. After Monday, I think something happened that night, making Douxie giddier about Zoe.
The receptionist smiles and presses a button. "She'll be with you shortly." She replies kindly.
Douxie turns around and walks over to us. "Do you have your spell book?" He asks me.
"Yes," I reply, nodding while he sits beside my right. Jim sits on my left, and Toby sits on Jim's left. Nari sits on Douxie's right, and Archie sits between them.
"What was that thing you were going to tell us?" Jim whispers, making me turn to him.
My lip becomes thin. I almost forgot about telling Jim and Toby about the note and staff from my room. "Ummm-"
"Hisirdoux Caspern!"
We turn to the sound, and I see Zoe in her blue shirt and black pants. Douxie and I immediately light up when seeing her. Douxie stands up and steps toward her. "Zoe! So good to see you! How's it been?" He asks with enthusiasm.
Zoe chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Enough stalling, Hisirdoux." She says and walks over to me with a smile and open arms. I stand up, and we hug. "Good to see you again, girl." She mumbles in my ear, making me smile.
"Good to see you too, Zoe!" I reply warmly before we separate.
Zoe looks around. "Come on back, guys. We have no time to waste." She says and turns to walk where she came from.
We all follow her in the back door, although I feel some eyes on me from the waiting room. We walk past many clear glass rooms of Hex Tech employees until we enter a lab room. It reminds me of a patient's room while Jim was hospitalized, but it also reminds me of the same room I was in while hiding from the Arcane Order. It has a few armchairs, a bathroom, a blue table, a bed with blue sheets, and an x-ray-like machine.
"What the hell is this?" Jim asks suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.
"This is where we examine problems in mortal technology when things are terrible, but I've convinced my colleagues and transformed it into a place to help Claire," Zoe answered sternly. She walks to the bed and taps some buttons on the wall.
"Reminds you of being in the hospital, doesn't it?" I whisper to Jim, nudging his elbow and smirking.
"Don't remind me." He says calmly, rolling his eyes.
Zoey grabs a baggy white gown off the wall and turns around, walking towards us. "Claire, we will use a machine called Magic x-ray on you. It looks similar to a mortal x-ray in hospitals, and it will allow me to look into your head and body and see what's going on, but for it to work, I need you to take all your jewelry and clothes except your underwear and put on this." She explains and shows the gown in front of her.
I turn red at the word clothes and look at my friends, who are both red too, especially Jim. I turned to Zoe, raised my eyebrow with a smirk, and crossed my arms. "So, you want me to strip before the boys." I joke, and this makes Jim and the others turn red. But both me and Zoe roar with laughter.
"That's not funny!" Jim snapped, but it just made me and Zoe laugh harder.
It takes a minute, but I calm down and walk to Jim, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's ok, Jim. The only person who I would strip in front of is you." I say calmly and peck him on the cheek, making Jim freeze up and blush scarlet with an awkward smile. I walk up to Zoe and take the gown. She leads me to the bathroom, and I shut the door when entering. I start to undress as I hear walking and muttering.
"Are you sure this is safe?" I hear Jim through the door, and his tone sounds rather hostile.
"It's going to be alright, Jim. This will help Claire, and you can stay here while we do this." I hear Douxie says calmly. "I trust Zoe with what she's doing."
I get on the baggy white gown and hold my clothes and backpack to my chest. I open the door and see almost everything and everyone in the same spot I left them in.
"Claire, set your belongings on the chair and sit on the bed," Zoe asks as she gets a white lab coat on.
I obey, placing my things down and sitting with my legs dangling to the side, watching her, Archie, and Douxie doing something on the blue table with herbs and vibrant colors in jars. "What are you doing?" I ask with curiosity as Nari, Toby, and Jim approach me.
"We're making a potion for you to relax and let us see in your body," Zoe says clearly. I turn to Jim and Toby, and we shrug our shoulders.
The two wizards and the cat take their time while we silently look at each other. As the minutes ticked by, I started to get more agitated. Toby walks over to one of the armchairs while Jim and Nari stay by my side.
"Are you nervous?" Jim asks warmly, taking my hand into his.
I smile at his gentleness and squeeze his hand. "I'm fine, Jim, but I'm glad I will find out what's wrong with me," I say softly to my boyfriend.
Jim smiles and gives me a peck on the forehead.
"You two are so cute together." Nari squeals, making me and Jim blush.
"Break it up, love birds; there's an examination going on," Zoey says, making Nari giggle. We turn to the two wizards, Douxie holding a light blue liquid in a small bottle.
"Zoe, Douxie?" I ask hesitantly.
"Yes." The answer.
"What else does this test do besides telling us what's happening with me?" I ask with curiosity.
"This test will show us what type of witch you are and if anything is wrong with your body. Why do you ask?" Zoe replies.
I shut my mouth and shake my head. "Just curious." I squeak. No one knows about how I got my powers, not even Douxie.
Douxie and Zoe look at me suspiciously but shrug it off. "Drink this," Zoe ordered, handing me a blue liquid in a shot glass. I smelled it instead, and it smelled foul, and I wanted to throw up. I close my eyes and hold my breath.
"I told you she wouldn't like it." I hear Douxie say.
"You have to drink it, Claire." I hear Zoe say, making me open my eyes.
"What's in this liquid." I gag in disgust.
"Herbs and citrus," Zoe replies sternly. "Just don't think about it."
I take a deep breath, hold my nose, bring the liquid to my lips, and swallow it whole. I clutch my lips and eyes tightly from the foul taste. I gulp and let out a gasp, groaning and holding my stomach.
"What did you expect, pumpkin juice?" Zoe says, helping me onto the back of the bed, and I lay my head on a pillow
I see a bright white light shining above me, hurting my eyes. Zoe and Douxie's faces are seen over my body. I feel my eyes become heavy, and my vision becomes buried. I look to my right and see a bury image of my boyfriend. "Jim..." I moan. I feel his hand squeeze mine and hear him shushing me before I close my eyes.
Author Note: Some parts of the chapter were changed and altered constantly in my head. Adding Barbara since she is a doctor and removing Toby. But I decided to keep Toby in not add Barbara. During all of expect for Wizards in Tales of Arcadia, Toby, Jim and Claire do almost together and with no paternal supervision before even when they're still minors. I wanted to make this short to step into third person perspective again. I will do this from time to time to help further the story. There is no rule on switching from different writing perspectives in a story as long on how you write it. Please review.